Port Aransas Art Center officials are silhouetted by large windows and the unfinished front doorway to the center’s new building at 104 N. Alister St. on Thursday, April 6. The structure will have high ceilings. This particular room will be the art center’s gift gallery, where the ceiling height will peak at 17 to 18 feet from the floor.
Looking at building plans on the front porch of the new Port Aransas Art Center building are, from left, Garrett Kypke, a partner at T. Kypke Builder; Karen Winship, president of the art center; Mary Rose, the art center’s executive director; and Bobbie Mussett, treasurer of the art center. The four were checking up on how construction was progressing on Thursday, April 6.
Carpenter Rudy Garcia works on a truss in the new Port Aransas Art Center building that’s under construction at 104 N. Alister St. Art center officials are hoping to open the building in August, but no firm plans have been set yet.
The new building will be nearly twice the size of the art center’s existing 2,400-squarefoot headquarters at 323 N. Alister St.
No specific date has been set for opening the building to the public, but art center officials are hoping it will be sometime in August, with a formal grand opening event to follow on Sept. 30.
T. Kypke Builder Inc. is the project’s general contractor.
While the building’s interior isn’t finished, it already is showing some dramatic lines, featuring high ceilings with beams that will remain exposed.
The new structure will include a larger gallery and a good-sized breakroom. The bigger break room will be better for handling food during events such as First Friday receptions.
The building will have a gift gallery that will be at least twice as big as the current one. The gallery will boast a ceiling 17 to 18 feet high, at its peak.
Other features in the new headquarters will include a large room that can be divided into two classrooms with an accordion-style folding wall. The classroom in the current building is only about half the size of that large room.
Dotted with large windows, the exterior walls have been painted a shade of blue called Carolina Coast. A silver-hued metal roof is still to come.
“We are just so thrilled with the porch and the balcony,” Winship said. “The wood there just looks so great, with the porticos we built out.”
The porch is about 12 feet wide in places, with plenty of room for a small band to gather and play during receptions and other gatherings, Winship said.
All of the electrical wiring and plumbing is in.
Interior gallery walls are up, but they haven’t been finished out yet with a carpet like material that will be good for hanging pictures.
One of the next steps carpenters will undertake is installing sheetrock and building cabinets, according to Winship.
The entire structure complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), she said. That includes having a ramp at the entrance and bathrooms that are wheelchair accessible.
The art center plans to build a smaller building on the property to house a pottery studio. It will have a classroom and an area for storing supplies. No decision has been made yet on when the studio will be built.
Two small portable buildings probably will be moved to the property, Winship said. One will be for storage, and one will be the kiln house, she said.
The art center, a non-profit organization, already has paid for the land where the new headquarters is being built. The price tag was $495,000.
The group still needs to raise money to pay off a $1.1 million loan for construction of the new building, center officials said.
Continuing enterprises such as the art center’s periodic Wine, Whine and Design painting classes raise money for the organization’s building fund, which will help pay off the loan. Money raised by SandFest this year is expected to help.
A whole new campaign of fundraisers will get started soon, including a street dance that art center officials are planning as part of the grand opening event. The event is expected to include live music and barbecue.
Folks who would like to contribute to the art center’s building fund may write checks payable to the Port Aransas Art Center and mailing them to the center at P.O. Box 1175, Port Aransas, TX 78373.
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